


kindness.

by kamuis



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, M/M, bc jeritza is probably hella touch-starved and i cri, just... tender face touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 08:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20863418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamuis/pseuds/kamuis
Summary: after much pleading, jeritza finally takes off his mask.





	kindness.

**Author's Note:**

> crossposted from @ pokemagines on tumblr lmao  
listen. if no one will provide sweet jeritza content then i will myself !!!

his cold violet eyes stare you down behind his mask. your question was a simple one: “why do you wear that mask?”, but he seems to dodge it, as he does every time. jeritza is quiet, tensing beside you as he shifts in his seat. the candlelight flickers, illuminating a strange emotion in his eyes that you can’t quite place. 

“why do you insist on pestering me with this question?” jeritza’s slow voice answers, eyes pretending to scan the book in front of him so he doesn’t have to look at your pleading eyes. 

“because i’m curious,” you state it simply, your whole body facing his, boots propped up on the side of his seat. “i love you, jeritza, and i don’t want to push you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with but… i want to see you. all of you.” that bluntness of yours never fails to fluster him, and you can see the tips of his ears grow red as he white-knuckles the library book he was trying to read. still not used to such kindness, he freezes as his mind tries to find any words to say. 

“you… you are vexing.” he bites his tongue, trying to keep himself from giving in, but in the end, he looks over and sees your loving eyes and melts, “i-if it’ll keep you from bothering me with this question in the future, i suppose i can indulge you… just once.” 

slowly, you watch as he pulls it off, a nervous tension growing in the air as if you’d somehow reject him once the mask is off. it took a long time to get to this point, jeritza was hardly the most sociable person, keeping everyone at an arms length with a cold stare and rejection, but only because that was the only thing he knew. house bartels physically beat it into him that he was nothing, nothing, _nothing _until he accepted it himself. they broke him in the cruelest of way, bringing him in friends only for his “father” to have him kill them after he got attached. he half expected the same thing to happen after he had started to feel something for you, that baron von bartels, whose blood also was on his hands, would somehow dig his claws into you and take you away too. jeritza had nightmares like that often.

but once your hands were on his face, stroking him ever so kindly, like he was delicate porcelain, all those thoughts melt away. no one had ever touched him so full of love, not since his mother had all those years ago. he chokes back an emotion he thought was long dead, eyes watering a bit as he blinks slowly at you.

his features are soft, eyes more kind and expressive than they look behind his mask. you would almost describe him as looking delicate, with rosy cheeks and full eyebrows. before today, you had thought that he had a big scar, or some other injury that would cause him to hide his face, but you couldn’t have been further off. it was because he was almost the spitting image of his older sister, who always looked warm and approachable.

“jeritza you’re–” you’re silent for a moment, continuing to stroke his cheeks gently with your thumb, taking in just how beautiful he is. jeritza’s eyes flutter shut, and slowly, his calloused hand comes and rests on top of yours. 

“surely, i frighten you.” his voice, usually cold and demanding, is barely above a whisper. jeritza didn’t even mean to say it for you to hear, but you noticed the comment anyways.

“no, nothing could be further from the truth. emile,” you test out his real name, and his eyes flutter open, a look of shock across his face. “you’re beautiful. moreso than anyone i’ve ever met.”

you two sit there in silence for a while, you running your hands over jeritza’s face, tracing the lines under his eyes and the angle of his jaw as he sits and takes it all in. when you drop your hand, opening your mouth to say that you shouldn’t be in the library at these hours, he silently moves it back to his face, a wordless plea for you to keep touching him. it was like he was making up for all those years he was forced into the dark by blinding himself with his sun. 

once the candle burns out, jeritza settles back into his seat, even in the dimness of the library, you can see that his cheeks are flushed. he reluctantly puts his mask back on, already missing your touch. 

“jeritza, are you tired? i know how far your quarters are away from here, you can always come to mine… we are engaged after all, it wouldn’t be weird.” truthfully, you had invited him many times to sleep with you, but he had rejected you every time. he didn’t want you to see him if he had a nightmare, if he accidentally hurt you in his sleep he couldn’t forgive himself, but tonight…

“i will join you tonight.” he answers, “but i will be gone before the sun rises. i do not wish for the emperor to see me leaving your quarters so early.” you swear you hear mirth in his voice, and you reach out and grab his hand. 

“aw, el told me you have her blessing.” you huff, but jeritza doesn’t budge. “fine, i’ll take what i can get…” jeritza walks with you, until you quietly say: “emile… thank you. for opening up to me.”

jeritza, no, _emile_, says nothing, because he knows if he did he’d cry and cry and _cry _just like he did as a boy.


End file.
